Half Marathon for my 11 year old (Read 2244 times)

Squirrel

posted: 5/9/2011 at 2:40 PM

My 11 year old is considering a half too. He's interested in the Air Force marathon in Dayton, where the "starter pistol" is a fly over and an Air Force officer presents the finishers medal with a salute. In fact, he had been training to do it last fall, but his dad suffered an injury and child quickly tired of training on his own. He has just started training again. Who knows, I might even train with him (though I'll probably just go for the 10K)

Maybe you could check out some fun local-ish races that would be far enough out to allow him to properly train? Once he gets one under his belt, he'll have a better idea of what's involved, and maybe be better prepared the next time a spur of the moment opportunity crops up.

SCL94556

posted: 5/9/2011 at 3:29 PM

Two years ago, my then 12 year old son decided to accompany my wife on a half marathon with the intent to walk it with her. When their corral was released, however, he was swept up in the excitement of the start, apologized to his mother, and then took off running. He eventually paired up with an older first-timer and the two of them Gallow-walked it to a finish in the 2:20s. Even though he was a reasonably good fitness (year-round swimmer), I wouldn't have OK'd him to actually run the HM without adequate training. Nevertheless, now that he has finished a half-marathon without incident, he is a confident runner, ran cross-country last semester and is running track this semester. All's well that ends well, I suppose.

For those that subscribe to RunningTimes, in the lastest issue there is an article about youth runners. Since I have a 12 year old runner, the article was very pertinent to me and all the nonsense I hear from parents about what their idea of too much running is.

Bottom line, if they want to run, let them run. Don't push, but do encourage. If you're worried about damage to knees and ligaments, or stunting growth, don't be. Be sensible with the rate of progression, just as you would/should be with your own running.

My son loves to run, but when I jokingly throw out the idea of him going on a 10 mile run with me, he shakes his head "NO". 5 miles no problem. 10 miles, no way. When I asked if he wanted to do a 10K on trails on June 4th, he enthusiastically said "yes."

All sports seem to start with running. At least that is my theory in coaching. When the youngsters are out of sorts I seem to always take them back to the basics of putting one foot in front of the other at a somewhat rapid pace. lol

Seriously though I say let the kid go for it but try and help control it. Kids are physically and emotionally resilient with some encouragement. Where they find the encouragement comes in many different forms; negative, positive, smiling faces, good times, sense of accomplishment and many more. I have always dreamed of one of my kids running with me and as of right now I do not see it happening in the near future. No problem I will continue to encourage them and maybe one day it will happen. My youngest (10) shows the most promise but I will wait for him to make the decision, of course I will try and persuade him over his lifetime to get out and run with me.

I say let the kid do what he/she will do and be there for them to coach (parent) them through it the best you can!

All sports seem to start with running. At least that is my theory in coaching. When the youngsters are out of sorts I seem to always take them back to the basics of putting one foot in front of the other at a somewhat rapid pace. lol

This is a very interesting topic, even though it's not quite relevant to me yet. I have a 6 year old who wants to run 5ks. She thinks she's the fasted thing on two legs, blessherheart. She did a 5k last Saturday, and really wanted to do it by her self. It was a Girls on the Run race, so I am sure she would have been safe, but no way would I let her do that alone. She finished in 44 minutes, and came in 28th in the 9 and under category. She was quick to point out she was the fasted 6 year old, though.

Sruiz's post reminded me of a discussion with a student of mine a few weeks back. We were discussing the upcoming local 5&10k races. She was bound and determined to run the 10k, even tho she is 8 with little to no training. Her reasoning was, 'well, you can do it, so why can't I?' Her brother basically summed it up in "Do you have any idea how much she runs?" (to them, I'm some running machine, in reality, I'm not)

'No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch'

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher

"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run." -Monte Davis